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Chapter Two-Capture
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Night fell. Already difficult travel was made worse by hampered vision, and finally Zim was forced to stop. He found a clearing, plopped down against one of the trees along the edge, and stared into the sky. Intent on his stargazing, he didn't care when GIR disappeared through the trees, yelling after the squirrels.
Silence took over as the robot ran off, but the calm didn't ease Zim's anxiety. The Irkens were hunting for him, and groups of the human resistance movement were known to be in the area. Discovery by either would mean a certain, probably extremely painful death.
"Master!"
The sudden squeal made Zim leap to his feet, breathing fast and antennae lowered in fear. It took a moment for him to register GIR's presence. "What are you doing, GIR? Are you trying to make my sqorch stop?!"
But a different voice answered. "If that's a VITAL organ, yeah." Zim whirled to see a tall, dark-skinned human step out of the shadows at the clearing's edge. The lanky male was followed by more than half a dozen others, all brandishing guns and some carrying bottles of water or plastic water pistols. Zim paled.
"Master, look! I found friends!"
"Yeah, he did good, didn't he, 'master'?" Another of the humans taunted. "This is a rather unique way to commit suicide, alien. You must be a masochist."
Zim tried to still the shiver that wanted to run up his spine, and flattened his antennae against his head. He glared at the green-clad soldiers as they surrounded him, but stopped as his eye fell on a familiar tuft of red hair. "...Keef?"
A goofy smile crossed the teen's face. "Zim? Zim! Heya buddy, it really is you!"
"He's not your buddy, you moron," the first teen growled, and Zim recognized him as The Letter M. Another glance at the group revealed more of his former classmates among the unfamiliar faces.
"You?! What are you doing here? Why aren't you dead?"
"Apparently we're more than you bastards can handle. Humans don't die easily." The group began to advance on him, and the clicking sound of guns being cocked filled the clearing.
Zim rose on his mech legs. "Stay back! I won't go easy on you."
The Letter M gave a dark chuckle. "Wouldn't expect you to. You've killed enough of us before, why show mercy now?"
"I'm...I was a soldier. I followed orders." Zim glared at him. "Just as you humans did at New York."
A dangerous glint shone in another soldier's eyes. "Those weren't orders, that was just plain fun."
The Letter M waved him silent, then turned back to Zim. "The humans that were captured a week ago-where are they?" Zim didn't answer, but his frown deepened. "Even Gaz and Dib?" He stayed silent, and The Letter M sighed. "Thought so. And since we don't have anyone else to take it out on right now..." He raised his pistol, aiming at Zim's chest.
"Stop." The voice was quiet and hoarse, but as commanding as it had always been. It carried over the sudden wind that whipped through the area, bringing everyone to a halt. Zim felt his blood freeze, and he retracted his mech legs and dropped to the ground.
She stepped into the clearing. Her hair seemed to glow violet under the moonlight, and the golden fire of her eyes was clearly visible, her scowl promising pain to anyone who tried to disobey. On her shoulder rested a large crow, black as her clothing, that watched the whole scene with interest.
"G-Gaz?"
She ignored them, and stared instead at Zim. "Bring him." And she turned, and melted into the darkness of the forest, the cry of the crow echoing behind her.
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Disclaimer: Invader Zim belongs to the Almighty Thinnest, Jhonen Vasquez, and the winged monkeys of evil that head Nickelodeon. I do this only out of the deepest respect. Please don't sue me, I have only a couple thousand dollars in college debt to give.
The Crow belongs to James O' Barr, and the movie version belongs to...Crowvision? If it belongs to someone else, I'm sorry. Please don't sue me as I really do admire your work, am only doing this for fun, and am already up to my purple hair in debt. Thank you.
Talk to Spooky!